Data Center Shell and Core Construction in Cedar Hill, Texas

A shell and core package is the first contract an operator signs on a new campus, and Cedar Hill has the acreage for it at High Point 67, a Hillwood Investment Properties development of more than 180 acres that can grow to roughly two million square feet. We build the data center envelope: footings, floor slab, tilt-wall or steel walls, roof and the structural provisions for the electrical and mechanical systems that follow. Shell and core means the building is weathertight and structurally complete, with the data hall interior left open for fit-out.

The ground deserves as much attention as the footprint. Cedar Hill rests on an Austin chalk limestone uplift, and the gumbo clay on top of it ranges from a few inches to many feet deep from one parcel to the next. That gumbo clay expands with moisture and contracts as it dries, so slab and footing design begins with a geotechnical report and a moisture-control plan rather than a stock detail. Closer to Joe Pool Lake, the western Lake Ridge area drops onto Eagle Ford shale, and that ground gets a separate foundation review.

Once the shell is moving, long-lead equipment sets the calendar. Switchgear, generators, transformers and chillers arrive on manufacturer schedules, and the building has to be ready to receive each one. We sequence the shell so equipment pads, rigging paths and door openings are finished before the trucks are.

Colocation and wholesale buyers want a shell delivered on a fixed date that can be leased in phases, and they tend to shop for sites near the existing Dallas-Fort Worth fiber routes. Real estate developers holding land want a builder who can price the envelope before a tenant is named, which is how many data center shells begin. We price shell and core against the geotechnical findings and an assumed power capacity so the number holds when the operator is identified.

Heavy industrial neighbors are a good sign for a data center site. An April 2022 report described Pratt Industries as spending over $200 million to occupy a million square feet in High Point 67, fronting South US-67 just under Mount Lebanon Road, with 150 permanent positions attached. A park that already handles large buildings and their truck traffic has roads, drainage and utility corridors sized for them, which is the same infrastructure a developer of a data center site needs.

We start from power and cooling and work back to the building. The load in megawatts sets the size of the generator yard and the chilled water plant, those set the pad footprint, and the pads set how much of the site is left for the data hall. Doing it in that order avoids the common error of drawing a handsome shell and then finding no room for the yards beside it. Interconnect with the grid operator's region, ERCOT, is tracked from the first week because its timeline decides when energization can happen.

On Cedar Hill ground we plan earthwork before anything else. Gumbo areas are usually over-excavated and rebuilt with treated or select fill, and chalk areas are checked for rock that changes trenching and drilled-pier methods. We schedule, coordinate and inspect the earthwork, concrete and steel trade partners against one sequence, and we set hold points where the engineer must see the subgrade before slab steel is placed. Stormwater from the western parcels drains toward Joe Pool Lake, a 6,469 acre reservoir impounded in 1986 with Cedar Hill State Park occupying 1,826 acres at its northeast corner, so detention and water quality design is reviewed early.

Cedar Hill covers about 35.9 square miles at roughly 800 feet of elevation, which puts parcels at different distances from US-67 and the Dallas County loop highways. We stage from the central metroplex and reach the city by way of Dallas to the north, with Grand Prairie and Arlington covering the route from the west. Haul routes for fill, concrete and structural steel are studied before mobilization.

Most of the city lies inside Cedar Hill ISD, so school bus and drop-off hours shape the morning delivery window on local roads. We book concrete trucks and oversized loads outside those peaks and tell the city's inspectors the plan in advance.

Shell erection exposes people to the hazards of lifting heavy panels and steel, so we plan every lift with a rigging plan, wind limits and a cleared zone under the load. Summer slab pours start early and carry shade, water and enforced rest breaks, and clay trenches are shored or sloped before anyone enters them. Each trade partner submits its site safety plan before mobilizing and we audit it on the ground.

Wet gumbo turns a haul road into a hazard overnight. Stabilized construction entrances, wash-down areas and graded temporary roads keep trucks moving and keep mud off public streets, which also keeps the interior clean once the roof is on.

The local building department reviews the shell permit, and the fire authority reviews fuel storage and life-safety features. We submit the shell on its own track, separate from the data hall fit-out, so foundations can begin while interior electrical and mechanical drawings are still being completed. Drawings state the structural provisions for later loads: roof capacity for equipment, slab depressions for cable trays and floor loads for battery rooms.

Utility applications run alongside the building permit. Permitting and utility interconnection affects the energization date more than the shell does, so we put the electric provider's study milestones on the same schedule as the permit and the concrete.

Most Cedar Hill shells use tilt-wall or precast panels because the large flat sites suit panel casting and a short erection window. The floor slab beneath is its own discipline, covered by mission-critical concrete slabs with tight flatness, moisture and joint requirements.

Procurement runs beside construction. Under long-lead equipment procurement we track submittals, factory test dates, shipping windows and storage so that gear lands on a finished pad rather than on a muddy yard.

Give us the address, the planned megawatts and the date you need power. We will review the soil conditions, the roof and slab loads, the yard footprint and the delivery route, then reply with a shell and core sequence that names the risks we see.

What does a shell and core package include in Cedar Hill?

Foundations, the floor slab, exterior walls, roof, structural provisions for equipment, site utilities to the building and a weathertight envelope. The data hall interior, cooling distribution and electrical fit-out are left for the next contract. We write the dividing line into the scope so there is no gap between the two.

How does gumbo clay change a data center slab?

Gumbo moves with moisture, so the design usually calls for removing or treating the upper layer, controlling water near the building and sometimes adding a moisture break under the slab. Floors for data halls are held to tight flatness, so settlement and heave must be controlled. A geotechnical report decides the method for each parcel.

Can the shell start before power is committed?

It can, if the owner accepts the risk. Many developers start the shell while the utility study is open, since the building takes months to build and the interconnect takes longer. We advise on the point where continued spending outruns the utility's firm dates.

Is every parcel in High Point 67 available for a data center?

We do not control the park or its tracts, and the developer decides what is offered. The development covers more than 180 acres, so we review any parcel you are considering for access, utility capacity and slab loads before you commit.

How do you handle deliveries of long-lead equipment?

Each major item gets a receiving plan with a route, a rigging method, a storage location and a pad that has been inspected. Oversized loads are scheduled for off-peak hours and escorted where required. Our work is to keep the building ready for the equipment, not the other way around.